Gang nut retainer assembly



Nov. 20, 1951 K. REINEQIR GANG NUT RETAINER ASSEMBLY Filed Sept. 28, 1945 INVENTOR. Kenneth lleiner WA. M

Patented Nov. 20, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT QFF'ICE GANG RETAINER KennethReiner, Los AifgelesgiGalif. Applia tid lfs'ep tfiibfzs, 1945, Serial N0. 619,194

'This inventiori relates to meansfor holding a series of nuts or similar fasteningdevices inspaeed relation with' respect to each-other,- and so that they will'be-held against rotation when boltsare applied to theirthreaded openings. Devices of this kind are now in use to assist in rapidly attaching parts to structures; usually structures that include a plate or fiangeto'which: bolts are to be applied-forsec'uringr or supporting, an: object such as a bracket. an accessory, or the 1ike,vin place.

It-isa common practice to employia channel in devices orassemblies'ot this kindinwhich the nuts: are" carried and held substantially in align= ment with openings; through the channel, and the bolts, when inserted through the-supporting;- platapass through the openings in thechanneland are then rotated to secure them in thenuts' that areheldin the channel. Whileit isnecessary to have'the threaded opening inthe nut substantially align with :the opening in the channel that carries thenuts, it is desirable to provide structures of this kind-Withmeans forpermitting a certainamount of lateral shift or lost movement of the nutsso as to enable the nuts to adapt themselves to the precise position of theholt when-inserted through the bolt opening inthe-channel.

One of the objectsof this invention is to presenta gang nut retainer assembly of simple construction to be used for the purposeindicated;

andto-operate as a time-saver in'making assem-- v blies of certain structures; H

The channelsreferred to carry. thenuts spaced apart from each other, and of course, require a considerable-amount of metal because the width of the channel m'ust be considerably greater than the width (measured across the flats) of" of the channels and the nuts that will enable the" channels to perform either ofbbth" of two runetion's, oneof' whichis 'to prevent the rotation of the nuts, and the-other isto' provide means for limiting the movement of the nut's longitudinally in the channel so as to" facilitate their threaded" openingsbeing brought into line' With; the bolt when inserted through the plate to which theas sembly is attached.

Another object of the invention is to' lp'rov ide' an" assembly of 1 this" character which will include 3 Claims: (CI. 85 32 anus ca ri'er or at? manner but the chanii al possible shift 0 p I e't'i'tini substantially at r angles"- to the longitiid al ax f the ch *elr' aau- to" prairies means associated with the channel for establishing or providingfor 1ffl5l3iefifl01fshiftfor tfi'rihtiiha1 gitlidinal t'o th chanfl'el I tHiSWaY e watery read-11y beshift s'iiffiielitly to" enabl' its threaded opening 1:6 align With the insertedmln 1 v l ss'n'ibly of this cliaiacter t-is-n'e'css'ary td' iiro'i ide-i mea falling out arms as net they are' u'ng tr-ar-ispbrt'dg'as hy s'h mentor; when" 'ing Wherthy are to be a nts-s Of htl n'sifor effec iigit a, sari; seewmwwe Pabi hem f e ii againstf-fallingf outhe channel, 7

1 "wer tea-r1 coiriibina on of parts" to? be" describe his aft'e a Ffigure Y fa -shortsectiofiof a nel such' refer d'tdi annel is-rp corresponding to each nut position is illustrated in three stages of assembly.

Figure 2 is a vertical section taken on the line 22 of Figure 1, and illustrating the assembly in its first stage, at which time the carrier for the nut is in place in the channel, but in this view the nut and the means for holding the nut in place are omitted.

Figure 3 is a section taken on the line 33 of Figure l, and passing through all of the parts employed in the complete assembly at the location of one of the nuts.

Figure 4 is a cross-section taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 1 but showing the nut itself in elevation. This view further illustrates details of the completely assembled partsat one of the nut locations.

Referring more particularly to the parts, and especially to Figure 1, the assembly includes a channel I generally formed of thin sheet metal,

and includes a back plate or web 2, the edges of which are provided with outwardly or forwardly projecting flanges 3. These flanges are usually disposed substantially at right angles to the plane of the web 2 and they terminate at their outer edges in inturned strips, which I call keeper strips 4, because these strips operate: to keep the carriers or carriage 5 in place in the channel.

The carriers 5 are in the form of substantially rectangular plates, the side edges of which are formed with downwardly or inwardly extended flanges 6, the edges of which rest substantially against the upper face of the web 2. These flanges are of suflicient width to hold the body portion of the carrier 5 substantially against the inner faces of the keeper strips 4.

Each carrier plate 5 is provided with a nut socket I which, in the present instance is of hexagonal form, but of course, it should be understood that this nut socket can be square, octagonal, or of any other form. However, this nut socket is preferably disposed so that it presents side edges 8 as indicated in Figures 1 and 2, which are substantially parallel with the side edges of the channel I. The distance between the side edges 8 is great enough to enable them to lie back under the extreme edges 9 of the keeper strips 4.

Referring particularly to the left end of Figure 1, it will be noted that the width of the carrier plates 5 is less than the distance between the side flanges 3 of the channel so that a clearance space I0, as indicated in Figure 1, is presented at each side of each carriage. At the location of each nut along the channel, the keeper strips 4 are provided with notches H. These notches are slightly longer than the length of the side face of each nut, in other words, there is a sloppy fit at this point which permits a slight shifting movement of each nut 12 when it is in place.

In Figure 1 the middle portion of the figure shows the carrier plate 5 in position and with the nut in place. The nut is set down from above into the channel so that it flts into the nut socket I and so that two of its side edges, which are opposite to each other, lie in the oppositely dis- :7

posed notches ll. And whenthe nut is in place in this way its threaded opening l3 will be more or less in axial alignment with a larger opening l4 that is formed in the web 2 to allow plenty of clearance for the shank of the bolt when it comes into the channel from the back.

I provide means to be applied to the nut after it is set in place in the manner suggested, for preventing it from falling out of its carrier 5 to which it has been applied. This means is of a character that will enable it to be snapped into position in engagement with the carrier plate 5, and preferably is in the form illustrated at the right end of Figure 1, and further illustrated in Figures 3 and 4; I call this member a cap-member I'5. It preferably has a disk form body Hi which is provided on diametrical points with two outwardly and downwardly extending resilient fingers ll. This plate or disk body H5 is dished downwardly, for example as shown in Figure 3, that is to say, the disk preferably has a concaveconvex form, the elements of which extend transversely to the direction in which the channel extends, and from the edges of this concavo-convex part of this cap-member the fingers I! extend downwardly; and their lower ends are formed into spurs or hooks l8 that incline upwardly and inwardly to facilitate their snapping into their holding position.

To cooperate with these hooks I provide the transverse edges' of the carriers 5 with downwardly projecting, and slightly recessed, flanges I9, the lower edges of which are provided with notches or sockets 20. At the point where the flanges l9 unite with the body portion 5 of each carrier, I prefer to provide a rounded shoulder 2 I. When the cap-members I5 are put in place the body i6 is held in position just above or outside of the outer face of the nut 12, and it is then forced downwardly on the nut with the spring fingers II in line with the sockets 20. In doing this the hooks I8 snap down over the shoulders 2| and move along down the flanges I9 until they snap into the sockets or notches 20. When this occurs the more or less resilient disk bodies [6 will be placed in stress, so that the upper face of the nut is exerting an upward thrust against the convex under face of the disk It. This develops a force tending to swing the fingers l1 inwardly toward the axis of the nut and keeps the hooks l3 tightly placed in their sockets 20.

In order to enable each cap-member [5 to be properly centered on the nut so that the central opening 22 through it will always be properly centered with the nut opening 13, I prefer to provide the side edges that are disposed toward the keeper strips 4 with two short integral ears 23 that project downwardly at the side of the nut. In the present instance the nut I employ is formed with a button 24 on its upper end portion which is of cylindrical form, and these short ears 23 project down and lie closely against the side of these buttons 24.

While the notches l I operate to limit the shifting movement of the nuts and their carriers, if

desired, additional means may be provided for cooperating directly with carriage plates 5 to limit their movement along the channel. In Figure 1 I illustrate means for this purpose which consists of small transversely disposed tongues 25 that are struck up into the channel from the web 2 so that their upper portions are in the path of the carrier plate. One of these tongues is illustrated in Figure 3 located at each side of the carrier plate.

When my invention is in use and when the bolt is pushed against the nut, if the nut is an unusually shallow nut, so that it might be lifted out of its socket in the nut carrier, the nut would still be prevented from turning by the engagement of the sides of the nut with the notches I]. In this way the notches H function as an independent means for preventing rotation of the nuts in the channel.

Many other embodiments of this invention may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a gang nut retainer assembly, the combination of a channel for supporting a plurality of nuts, said channel having a web with side flanges projecting out from the web, and terminating in inwardly turned keeper strips, said keeper strips having spaced notches in their edges, nut-carriers spaced from each other in the channel, with side edges extending under said keeper strips and retained thereby in'the channel, each of said carriers having a nut receiving opening conforming to the shape of the nut, nuts freely receivable in said openings, said nuts having oppositely disposed side faces received in said notches, and held by said notches against unlimited movement along said channel, and attachable means for retaining the nuts in said openings.

2. In a gang nut retainer assembly, the combination of a continuous channel for supporting a plurality of nuts, said channel having a web with side flanges projecting out from the web, and terminating in inwardly turned keeper strips, said keeper strips having spaced notches in their edges, nut-carriers spaced from each other in the channel, with side edges extending under said keeper strips and retained thereby in the channel, each of said carriers having a nut receiving opening conforming to the shape of the nut, nuts freely receivable in said openings and having oppositely disposed side faces received in said notches, said notches being slightly longer than the sides of the nuts to permit a limited shifting movement of said nuts and carriers along the channel, and attachable means for retaining the nuts in said openings.

3. A gang nut retainer according to claim 1, in which said attachable means includes a cap member seated on the outer end portion of each nut, said nut carrier and its corresponding cap member having cooperating means for attaching the cap-member to the carrier.

KENNETH REINER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Date 

